After the Storm Comes the Rainbow: Love, Home, and Permaculture in Puerto Rico

Abstract

For the past several years, Eckerd College has maintained a relationship regarding community engagement with Plenitud, an eco-educational organization located in Las Marias, Puerto Rico specializing in permaculture, bio-construction, and sustainable community service projects. However, the purpose and nature of our relationship changed following the aftermath of Hurricane’s Irma and Maria. Whereas concern over risk management and general safety are always a priority when planning an alternative spring break service project, the media’s depiction of visions of an apocalyptic Puerto Rico with no food, water, energy, or decency had made the task even more difficult. This article chronicles the challenges and celebrations of creating such a trip, and the impact traveling to Puerto Rico to participate in hurricane relief work had on the local community in Puerto Rico as well as Eckerd College students. The hope is that as practitioners of service-learning we can begin to pose questions regarding where we are most needed and what actually accounts for meaningful service.